w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Natural Resources Department says three people were shot during hunting accidents over the weekend, while another was injured today (Monday). All four men are expected to survive their wounds.

The latest incident was reported this (Monday) morning, when a Fort Dodge man suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound while hunting deer in Webster County. 36-year old Michael Ziemann,  was preparing to take a shot at a deer with a .44 magnum handgun when the gun went off and the bullet when down through his right leg.  Zieman was hunting with two other people at the Brushy Creek wildlife area when the incident occurred shortly after 7-a.m. DNR Recreational Safety Officer Jeff Barnes said Ziemann was wearing heavy gloves at the time which caused him to activate the trigger. Barnes warns “Hunters need to be aware, particularly during cold weather, of the effects heavier clothing may have.”

Ziemann was transported to Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge by other members of his hunting party where he was being treated for what was believed to be a non-life threatening injury. The DNR says a Grinnell man shot himself in a foot during a hunt in Page County on Saturday. 35-year old Benjamin Parker‘s gun fired after it got tangled in some bags he was carrying.Parker was taken to a Des Moines hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life threatening.

Also Saturday, an Altoona man was injured in Lucas County. The department says 25-year old Ryan Mills was shot when a deer ran between him and other people in his hunting group. The department says 38-year old Thomas Burns, of Waterloo, was shot on Sunday while hunting in Appanoose County. Burns was shot when another person in his group shot at a running deer.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – A former western Iowa woman found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2001 shooting death of her 20-year-old neighbor is scheduled to be sentenced today (Monday) in Webster County District Court. A jury found 45-year-old Tracey Richter, of Omaha, guilty of killing Dustin Wehde at her former home in Early, to quiet him in a convoluted plot to kill her husband. The jury returned its verdict on Nov. 7 following a trial in Fort Dodge.

Richter claimed she killed Wehde in self-defense during a home invasion but prosecutors say there was no home invasion and that Richter lured Wehde to her house in early, had him write a notebook that her ex-husband had hired him to kill her and their son and then shot him to keep him quiet.

Richter faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say a Council Bluffs man was arrested Sunday evening on a bench warrant for violation of his probation. 52-year old Richard Roland Rose, Jr. was taken into custody at around 5:15-p.m. He was being held this (Monday) morning in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

BRADDYVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A Grinnell man has been hospitalized after shooting himself in the foot while hunting in Page County. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says 35-year-old Benjamin Parker’s gun discharged Saturday afternoon after becoming tangled in some bags he was carrying. A slug went into his right foot. Officials say Parker was taken to a Des Moines hospital. His injuries aren’t believed to be life threatening.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A webinar offered to farmers in five states will explain what government resources are available to help them recover from Missouri River flooding. The Dec. 14 webinar will feature two producers who are repairing their farmland and representatives from the U.S.  Department of Agriculture and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The information will be available at 20 sites in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota.  For a list of locations, go online to http://flood.unl.edu/crops. The webinar is sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State extension offices. It’s the second in a series. The corps released massive amounts of water from the dams along the Missouri River this year to deal with heavy rains and above-average snowmelt, causing record flooding in several states.

Icy roads were to blame for a non-injury accident Sunday morning, about two-miles east of Red Oak. According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, vehicles driven by 56-year old Colleen Rae Brown, of Stanton, and 24-year old Jessica Gail McCuen, of Villisca, collided on Highway 34 at the intersection with 200th Street. Officials say a 2008 Dodge Caliber driven by Brown and a 2002 GMC Denali driven by McCuen, were both traveling westbound when Brown began to slow down. McCuen was unable to get stopped in time due to the icy roadway. The right rear of the Denali clipped the left rear of the Dodge, causing $3,000 damage to each vehicle. The accident happened at around 11:20-a.m.  No citations were issued due to the icy road condition.

And, an accident early Saturday morning nearly four-miles northeast of Red Oak was also attributed to a wet and muddy road. Sheriff’s officials say 36-year old Kelly Jon Stites, of Red Oak, was traveling north on M Avenue at around 5:45-a.m., when his 2005 Chevy pickup began to slide on the roadway, near 200th Street. The truck entered a ditch and struck a culvert, sustaining about $2,500 damage. No injuries were reported.

Three women suffered unknown injuries during a rollover accident late this (Sunday) morning in Montgomery County. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the driver of the vehicle, 73-year old Goldie Ann Adams, and two passengers in her vehicle, 81-year old Mamie Cathern Forward, and 58-year old Cathern Marie Forward, all of Red Oak, were injured in the crash and transported to the Montgomery County Hospital.

The accident happened just before Noon, Sunday, on Highway 34, about one-half mile west of Red Oak. Officials say a Adams’ 2008 Mercury Milan was traveling west on the highway and crossing the East Nishnabotna River bridge, when the car hit a patch of ice. Adams lost control of the vehicle, which slid into the south ditch and flipped once, before coming to rest on its wheels.

The injured were transported to the hospital by Red Oak Rescue. The extent of their injuries was not known at the time of the press release.

The first major snowstorm of the season left motorists trying to remember their Winter driving skills. Here in the Atlantic area, the snow started falling late in the afternoon, but we only picked up three-tenths of an inch of snowfall. Heavier amounts were reported off to the north of Interstate 80 and points west and northwest, including Vail, in Crawford County, which had received 6.5-inches of snow by 6-p.m., Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon, a weather spotter in Carroll had reported 3.5-inches to 4-inches of snow on the ground.

The story in our immediate listening area, was the amount of rain. We picked up a total of 1.04-inches of precipitation from 7-a.m. Saturday through early this morning, including the melted snowfall. Other locations around the state reported record rainfall for December 3rd, including Ottumwa, which received 1.09-inches. The National Weather Service says Des Moines received 1.38-inches of precipitation, which broke the previous record of 0.92-inches in 1990. It was the wettest December day in Des Moines since 1994, and the fourth wettest December on record for that date, since records began in 1878.

Rain that fell during the day Saturday left roads in slippery condition, as the temperature slipped to 32 degrees and below by 8-p.m. Accidents were reported on Interstate 80 last night, but none resulted in any serious injuries.  Meteorologist Dave Eastlack with the National Weather Service in Valley, Neb., said a wintry mix quickly becoming snow Saturday morning in parts of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. In all, about 3 to 6 inches of snow fell throughout the day, depending on where you were. The snow began to pile up, and so did the accident reports.

According to the Omaha World Herald, a wreck on Highway 92 in Pottawattamie County, near 270th Street, west of Treynor, led to another accident. While Sheriff’s Deputies responded to one accident scene, at another location, a passing vehicle struck a tow-truck driver who’d arrived to help with vehicle removals.  Sgt. Chris Weber with the Sheriff’s Office confirmed rescue personnel transported the tow-truck driver to Alegent Health Mercy Hospital. The man was conscious and breathing when transported. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. Weber didn’t have the man’s name or any further information.